


That's all there is

by Ryenan



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Character Death, Disabled Character, Emotional Hurt, Hux dies, M/M, Veterans, War, hux dies overseas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8464627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryenan/pseuds/Ryenan
Summary: Hux is deployed and something horrible happens. Emotional pain/fall-out for Kylo and Leia, support from Poe and Finn.





	

“I don’t want you to go. Oh, Hux, what if –“ Kylo is crying, muttering, whispering against Hux’ shoulder at the departure gate. He’d bought a ticket to Washington, ostensibly to have the comfort of his mother the first few days Hux is gone, but also so he could hold on to Hux until the last moment.

“War is always a string of what-if scenarios. Try not to think about it too much. I’ll be safe, safer than most.”

Finn Dameron, holding hands with his husband, Poe, lays a comforting hand on Kylo’s back. Poe is deploying with Hux, both pilots in the 501st, and Finn is a chaplain.

“Poe tells me Hux is one of the best pilots in the squadron. It’s frightening, I know, but he’s incredible in the air. It’ll be okay.”

Kylo sits up, grasping tightly at Hux’ hand as he turns to Finn. Poe starts digging in his backpack for a kleenex for Kylo’s tear-and-mascara streaked face. Poe just smiles and pats him on the back.

“I didn’t realize what being on this side of a deployment felt like. The way my mom cried, g-d, I thought she was melodramatic. I get it now.”

Poe grins, passing over the kleenex pack, and Hux smiles slightly. He remembers senator organa’s near-breakdown in the airport three years ago. The newspapers had tried to call her weak and unstable, running photos of her sobbing as she hugged her son goodbye, but her ratings spiked majorly at all the news coverage, mostly from women and veterans. She’d won the election in a landslide.

Senator Organa was hosting the state veterans’ dinner next week, during Kylo’s visit. The timing was a coincidence, but having him with her – while his husband was deployed – would be a boon. Kylo often complained that his mother used him for political machinations too often, and Hux had to remind him that it was all she knew. Her mother was a two-term president who stayed politically active, and her father only recently retired from office at eighty-five. Trusting Kylo in the political arena was a way of showing her love. Staying with her a few weeks, in the hubbub of her life, would be a good distraction from Hux’ deployment.

They call for the officers to start boarding as Kylo finishes wiping the mascara off his face. He turns back to Hux, who’s standing, and breaks out in fresh tears.

“Oh, Ky. Come here.” Hux pulls his husband up from his chair, dropping his backpack.

“I’ll be home before you know it. Fifteen months. You’ll make it, I’ll make it, everything will be okay. Fifteen months. I love you.”

Finn helps Kylo let go, and hands him off to a stewardess. She hands him his cane and smiles soothingly as he squeezes Hux’ fingers one more time.

“I love you.”

“He needs to get to twenty-nine B, has a flight in a half hour. To Washington.”

The woman nods and leads Kylo slowly to a tram, scooping up his duffel as she goes, as Hux boards the plane.

 

 

Kylo doesn’t have to wait fifteen months.

Hux returns home after three months, while Kylo is still in Washington with his mother. He had been booking a flight home when he gets the call, and his mother – and her security – come running at the sound of breaking glass and screaming.

Leia orders him a new laptop after moving him to the other guest bedroom. The cleaning staff will be in tomorrow, and can get the shards of mirror glass out of the carpet better than she could, and her aide calls a company to come fix the window. She sits with Kylo the rest of the day, blowing off meetings and appointments and a magazine interview. She doesn’t think about any of it as she strokes Kylo’s hair, holds him tight. She thinks about how she felt when she got the call Kylo was injured. Then she cries with him, because his pain is worse.

It’ll be okay, she tells Kylo. It’ll be okay.

Why, why, why, he asks her. Why, why, why?

 

 

Kylo asks his mother to find someone to clean out and sell the house the next day.

“I’ll have to go get some things, but I’d rather someone else handle most of it. I don’t want to leave here for very long, in case…” he trails off, waving his hand in small circles. “Are there people that do that sort of thing?”

“Of course, dear. I’ll handle it. Do you want to go this weekend? Before the – “

“Yeah.” Kylo sniffles a bit, and Leia hands him a kleenex. Can you come with me, or do you need to stay here?”

“I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

 

 

Poe and Finn arrive on the same flight as Hux, and the Senator sends a car to pick the couple up. They’re both somber as they’re introduced to the senator and staff, and Finn shifts quickly into counselor mode when Kylo comes downstairs to greet them. They settle on a sunlit couch while an aide makes tea, and Poe heads to the guest bedroom to shower. The last few days had been grueling, and knowing they were on the same flight as Hux but not allowed near him hand been painful.

 Kylo is exhausted by dinnertime, and only manages a few bites before retiring to bed. Finn and Poe follow shortly after, and Poe tries to cry as quietly as he can.

Senator Organa tiptoes into their room after a quiet knock at the door with a glass of water, a Xanax, and the soft touch of a motherly hand. The house falls quiet, and Leia is left to stare at the ceiling. No medication for her, she needed to be cognizant and present for tomorrow.

 

 

Leia brushes Kylo’s hair during a bout of crying, and touches up the smudged black makeup under his eyes before they head out the door. Poe and Finn follow, both in standard Army blue dress uniforms bristling with ribbons. Finn carries a bible, flipping through its well-worn pages to occupy his hands. No one speaks.

They bury him in Arlington. Nearly everyone there is in military dress, save Kylo and Leia. Kylo took one look at the bright white of his Navy dress uniform and tossed it aside, opting for his current black garb. He cries silently the whole time, but remains standing, even as his injured leg begins to tremble. He sets a plump white rose on the casket and throws the first handful of dirt, clutching the folded flag to his chest the whole time.

One of the aides had had a flag box engraved with Hux’ name and rank on short notice, and it was waiting in the car. Kylo barely let go of the flag for long enough to secure it before he was holding the hard-edged box tightly again.

Hux’ ring fits, a little loosely, on Kylo’s pinky finger. Both are plain on the outside but have their names etched inside. He had left it in the jewelry box at home for safe keeping while he was deployed, and Kylo had retrieved it during their weekend trip.

He rubs the ring idly against the flag box as they drive home; Leia is staring out the window while Poe and Finn clutch hands in the backseat. They had received emergency leave for the funeral, but would be shipping back out this evening. Finn hoped their leaving wouldn’t distress Kylo more than he already was.

“So that’s it,” Kylo whispers, his throat sore from crying. “That’s all there is.”

Leia takes his hand and no one says anything. Because he’s right, that’s all there is. Hux is gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to write this so it wasn't obvious what happened until the end. I know the tags and description give it away, but if that wasn't available, do you think I succeeded? Opinions greatly appreciated.


End file.
